Player Matt Spence

[David Bragg_old]

Matt Spence

​

League player on and off since 1985.

Heres my question

Which former Warrior is now playing for Turangi Dambusters in the Bay Of Plenty Reserve Grade Comp

 

[Jesbass_old]

A well known club. I know that Matt Spence and I think Ben Ellis came from there. I wouldn't have a clue who's back there now.

At a completely random guess...Whetu Taewa?

 

[David Bragg_old]

Matt Spence has been playing for the them.
I have only seen them once and he was not playing that day.
Heard he was doing the damage as you would expect.
They are top qualifier for the semis and are favoured to win at home but have to travel if they make the final.

 

[Jesbass_old]

I didn't know Matt Spence was back there - wasn't Turangi his junior club?

Anyway, I guessed wrong, so put up another question, if you want.

 

[mt.wellington]

​

Spence then moved to Australia, joining the Parramatta Eels and making his first grade debut in 1995. He impressed many in his rookie season and was awarded the Eric Grothe Rookie of the Year award at Parramatta. However he needed a knee reconstruction in 1997 and this injury plagued his next two seasons at the Eels.

He signed for the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1999 and looked to rebuild his career. However before the season had started he failed a NRL drug test, testing positive forecstasy. He was the first player to be suspended under the NRL's new drug rules and received a seven-week suspension.

With the Magpies merging with Balmain for the 2000 season he was forced to move clubs again and returned home to New Zealand to play for the Auckland Warriors. He was not re-signed by the new owners in 2001 and retired. When not required by the Warriors in 2000, Spence was assigned to play for the Newtown Jets. He played for theNorthcote Tigers in the 2002 Bartercard Cup.

• 1995–98 Parramatta Eels
• 1995 Eels Rookie of the Year
• 1999 Western Suburbs
• 2000 Auckland Warriors

 

[mt.wellington]

Rugby League: Warriors keen on clean Spence​

By Peter Jessup

The Auckland Warriors are close to doing a deal to buy former national age group rep and three-year Western Suburbs player Matt Spence, with an anti drug-use clause sure to be part of the package.

Spence, 23, has been a standout performer for the poorly performing Wests and was one of those fingered by new Western Tigers coach Wayne Pearce to be part of the future of the new club in 2000.

But Spence wants to return to Auckland, a reunion with former team-mates including Stacey Jones and Awen Guttenbeil part of the attraction after two years at Parramatta and one with the Magpies.

The Warriors, still seeking solid journeyman back-up for the front and second row, will grab him if the asking price is right and, given Spence's brush with the game's drug police, it probably will be.

Spence was one of 400 National Rugby League players tested during the last off-season, the Australian Sports Drug Agency finding an ecstasy-positive. He admitted the breach and was suspended for a month.

The Warriors are still not saying who they are targeting for fear of being targeted themselves over the NRL's anti-tampering laws. But the word inside the club was that the 191cm, 98kg forward would be at Ericsson next season provided he agreed to a contractual clause that could see him cut for a repeat offence.

Rugby League: Warriors keen on clean Spence - NZ Herald

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www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[mt.wellington]

​

 

[mt.wellington]

Star Spence in roving Dambusters role​

Rotorua Daily Post
13 Jul, 2009 05:00 PM

There's no doubt Matthew Spence's footballing career has brought him full circle, back to its starting point on the southern shores of Lake Taupo.

A talented teen, Spence made the New Zealand under-17 selection while playing for the Turangi Dambusters, the Bay of Plenty District Rugby League's southern-most affiliated club.
Now, almost half a lifetime later, Spence is back in the Dambusters' colours after a speckled career which saw him play 68 games in Australia's NRL with Parramatta Eels (1995-98), Western Suburbs (1999) and finally the Warriors in 2000.

Injury plagued the second-rower's top-flight fortunes and he will always be remembered as the first player to be dealt with under the NRL's new drug policy. He earned a nine-week stand-down in 1999 for failing a pre-season test which showed remains of recreational drugs.

Those highs and lows are certainly well behind the quietly spoken 33-year-old, who has been acting as a player/coach for the Dambusters in the Bay of Plenty premier competition this year.

Working with youth is his vocation now. He's a solo father of two boys aged under 7 and many of his football side are teenagers.

"Football and a bit of hunting, that's the main reason I moved back home, just to relax a bit," Spence said shortly after his side's 36-14 loss to Pikiao in Rotorua on Saturday.

"I kept away from football when the kids were young but now they're playing junior football."
Spence has been back in Turangi since he retired from professional football just over seven years ago but he still displays the nose of someone who has played at the higher levels.

On Saturday at Puketawhero Park in Rotorua, he played a roving second rower-cum-standoff role and helped his side stretch play-off bound Pikiao for 80 minutes.

Spence scored a try and delivered a sweet offload for Aden Hetaraka to get their second while centre John Paul Thompson crossed for their third.

Pikiao were never in danger of losing the game but they will certainly have to lift their efforts during this weekend's play-offs if they are to survive past their sudden-death semifinal against Forestland in Tokoroa next week.

Pacific will travel to Rotorua to play Ngongotaha and decide who goes straight to the grand final.

Turangi can only look to next year after a trying season during which they won only one match but showed stickability in showing up each weekend and taking on the better sides.

Spence will be back at the helm next year, although he hopes his role will be a little different.

"We started off with good numbers, but once we got to the middle of the comp, a few dropped off. But now I've got a few good young fellas who are sticking around," he said.

"Hopefully next year it just gets better ... I'll be playing again hopefully not as much on the field but more coaching."

"Just a bit hard when we don't get the numbers to training ... there's plenty of players around but it's hard to get them interested and having something for them to play in."

Many Bay premier teams ache to return to a serious league such as the former combined Waikato, Coastline and Bay of Plenty competition (WaiCoa Bay) but Spence has reservations.

"For a team like Turangi it wouldn't be a benefit for us. We're struggling with funding and travelling at the moment and there's more travelling there."

He'd like to see a mixed competition which provides an avenue for all clubs to play.

"Like how the [local] season was this year a bit shorter, then go into WaiCoa after it for maybe the top two or three teams in each area, that way it gives everyone a good competition to play in."

* Bay of Plenty District Rugby League results
Premier:

Pikiao 36 (Jeremy Gardiner 2, Rob Komene, James Ryan, BJ Raroa, Matene Simein, Hauauru Morgan tries; Reece Hohepa 3, Jermaine Muagtutia goal) Turangi 14 (Matt Spence, Aden Hetaraka, John-Paul Thompson tries; Timothy Tama goal) HT 16-4.

Pacific 34 Forestland 26.

Star Spence in roving Dambusters role - NZ Herald

Browse local and regional news from the Rotorua region, including Rotorua, Whakatane and Taupo - rotoruadailypost.co.nz

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[mt.wellington]

74. MATT SPENCE
Last update

General - 2015 Warriors Where Are They Now?

72 Scott Pethybridge - Coach of the Narrabeen Sharks A Grade team. Link Still coach of the Narrabeen Sharks A Grade team. https://www.narrabeensharks.com.au/#/coaches-managers/4577724114 Scott also owns a Labour Hire company in Western Sydney in the Blacktown area. Cant track the companies...

nzwarriors.com

Last update we had absolutely nothing and I'm afraid this time is the same. Only clue we could work with was an entry in his Wikipedia profile that had Spence as the player-coach for his junior club the Turangi Dambusters in the Bay of Plenty premier competition in 2009 and 2010. The citation provided led me to the following article that mentions him doing youth work.

Star Spence in roving Dambusters role​

Rotorua Daily Post
13 Jul, 2009 05:00 PM
View attachment 48590
Working with youth is his vocation now. He's a solo father of two boys aged under 7 and many of his football side are teenagers.

"Football and a bit of hunting, that's the main reason I moved back home, just to relax a bit," Spence said shortly after his side's 36-14 loss to Pikiao in Rotorua on Saturday.

"I kept away from football when the kids were young but now they're playing junior football."
Spence has been back in Turangi since he retired from professional football just over seven years ago but he still displays the nose of someone who has played at the higher levels.

*abridged

Star Spence in roving Dambusters role - NZ Herald

Browse local and regional news from the Rotorua region, including Rotorua, Whakatane and Taupo - rotoruadailypost.co.nz

www.nzherald.co.nz

Have reached out to a mate that lives in Turangi so fingers crossed we can get some word back.

If anyone can help us with this update please let us know...​

 

[mt.wellington]

Got a reply from my mate. He happens to work with a good mate of Matts. He is living just outside Turangi in Waihi Village and is a youth worker in the area...